MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A century-old World War II veteran from Montgomery County has been reunited with his military dog tags after they were lost for more than 80 years, thanks to the dedication of a stranger who spent six years tracking him down.
Ewell T. Moore, 100, never expected to see his dog tags again after losing them sometime in the 1940s during training in Texas, before he was sent to Europe to serve as a machine gunner.
"I didn't even look for them in the sand where people been tramping around," Moore said. "They were lucky to find them, I guess."
The remarkable reunion began when Moore received an unexpected phone call from Phillip Bergman, a man he had never met.
"I said, 'Do you remember serving as a soldier in that area of Texas?' And he said, 'Yes, I do,'" Bergman said.
Bergman's friend, Jimmy Murillo, lives around 40 miles from the El Paso area. Murillo discovered the dog tags while metal detecting near a former military training base. The tags were buried in the sand, preserved by decades underground.
"I happened to be visiting him in New Mexico and he gave me a few old things. He gave me this dog tag. And I said, because I showed an interest, I said, 'Let me see if I can try to maybe find his family,'" Bergman said.
What followed was a six-year mission to locate the owner of the tags. Bergman's persistence finally paid off when he successfully tracked down Moore.
"It's a real honor, really. It's just very appreciative that I can be a small part of it. But, you know, to bring him some joy and reconnect with his past," Bergman said.
The dog tags appeared remarkably well-preserved after more than eight decades buried in Texas sand.
"Well, that's sand cleaned them up," Moore said with a laugh. "I don't know how they found them," Moore said.
